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Monday, 26 March 2012

StreetNet affiliate, NASVI, has published a "Handbook on Law, Policy and Judgements" affecting street vendors. It brings together all the judgements of the Supreme Court and High Court of India and the specific provisions of Municipal and Police Laws dating back since 1989. It is designed to support the work of lawyers, policy makers and vendors.

Drawn up following two regional seminars held in Bangalore and Patna and a National Round Table held in Delhi, it has counted on the advice of a large number of senior advocates.

NASVI comments that hawkers and and vendors are among the most regulated and taxed sectors of society but their contributions are rarely acknowledged. Sanjay, a fruit seller at a market near Sewa Nagar, in New Delhi, speaks for many when he said "I am not a licence holder; more than half my earnings are given away as bribes.I'm an illiterate, this is all I can do to earn a living. What rights do I have?", he asks.

Licenses (or tehbazari) are issued by the municipality. There are many different forms of license, including a yearly license and a wide range of temporary license. The manner is which licenses are issued is arbitrary and open to bribery and corruption. In some areas, it is the local politician who decides who gets a license. Furthermore, the licenses often do not stipulate the place of trade nor who has issued them. Fake licenses are traded openly. Most hawkers therefore work without a license and tend to accept police harassment or confiscation of goods. Most often, hawkers are compelled to bribe the police in order to regain their goods.

Most of the cases collected in the handbook refer to the right to trade and the issuance of licenses. There are 15 Supreme Court and High Court cases which are reviewed, together with a table of State and municipal laws, impacting on vendors.

Thursday, 22 March 2012

The Indian Parliament passed the Unorganized Workers' Social Security Act (UWSSA) in 2008. However, three years down the road, and the Central Government has not yet formulated any social security provisions in keeping with the Act. There is one pilot scheme, which covers 90 million people, while it is estimated that 430 million workers (or 93% of India's workforce) are informal workers or not organised (and therefore not eligible for existing social security schemes).

The National Advisory Council on Social Security (NAC) has now developed a set of Draft Recommendations to implement the Act. The recommendations examine the scope of the application of social security, what is meant by a minimum social security package, recommendations concerning the implementation architecture and the financial implications.

The NAC has recommended a broad definition of worker to include both informal and formal workers. It defines the minimum social security package as including life and disability cover, financial protection against ill-health, maternity benefits and pension upon retirement.

Wednesday, 21 March 2012

The New Manifesto campaign in Togo was organised by the two affiliates, SYVEMACOT and FAINATRASIT and was an opportunity for trade union leaders to survey markets in some of the poorest areas of the interior of the country. Markets visited included those in Assivito, Attikpodi, Adodessewa, Nukafu, Adidogomoe and Assiyeye. The survey revealed that market vendors were subjected to very exorbitant and arbitrary fees, which ranged from 100 CFA (USD 2) to 1000 CFA (USD20) per day and the fee structure is not clear nor well regulated.

Market vendor supports Syvemacot and FAINATRASIT

Many vendors felt that the taxes were not justified and that there was little public investment in the market, such as basic services like drinking water and toilet and sanitation facilities. Many also complained that they were not giving receipts for the payments they made so that they could be charged later the same day. The market vendors did not consider that the market administration was receptive to their issues and failed to provide the most basic services, like a security guard for their goods.

The two organisation held a press conference to explain the results of the survey on 29th February 2012 calling on the government to develop a law on urban vending in order to regulate trading and to tax traders in a fair, transparent manner.

Ayao Gbandjou on TV 5 talking about the New Manifesto campaign

This press conference was followed by a TV interview on 7th March on a well known programme called "And if we discuss it?" On 9th March, the Delegation for the Organisation of the Informal Sector of the Presidency of the Republic wrote to both affiliates requesting interest in discussing their proposals further.

The StreetNet affiliate in Peru, the Departmental Federation of Street Vendors of Lima and Callao (FEDEVAL), has completed a broad consultation of street and market traders in 6 districts of Lima in order to develop the New Manifesto for self-employed traders. A survey was conducted in the districts of Carabayllo, Cercado de Lima, San Martin de Porres, Los Olivos, Ancon, and Puente Piedra. It was clear that the main issue which concern the traders is the lack of clarity over trading regulations, licenses and taxes. "These are issues which could be resolved by establishing a dialogue forum with the Municipality of Lima and by passing the draft Law on Self-Employed Workers. These are the two fundamental demands of FEDEVAL, and we hope that over the next months, there will be progress on both fronts," explained Manuel Sulca Escalante, General Secretary of FEDEVAL in a recent conversation with StreetNet.

Wednesday, 14 March 2012

On 5th February 2012, representatives of the StreetNet affiliate, the League for the Rights of Congolese Women (LFDC) handed over a copy of the "Manifesto of Informal Sector Traders in the DRC" to the Bourgmestre (Mayor) of Kinshasa.

Anne Matondo hands over the New Manifesto to local authorities

Meeting with the trade union centre UNTC

The LFDC has also given copies of the New Manifesto to the market administrators, and the local authorities in the different communes of Kinshasa. There were also meetings with the two trade union centres to hand over the New Manifesto. The LFDC has also organised information sessions in different markets about the New Manifesto.

The New Manifesto was drawn up following a survey of 10 markets based in 9 communes of Kinshasa. The first step was to identify 10 vendors who were interested in participating in the campaign. They took part in a training session to draw up the questionnaire and to agree survey techniques. The survey was then conducted in the markets, and 100 questionnaires were completed. There was then another workshop to pool all the answers to the survey and to develop the main demands which formed the basis of the New Manifesto document.

Information Session about the New Manifesto

While carrying out the survey, the LFDC counted also on the support of the Coalition of Women for Peace and Development (CFPD) and the National Initiative for Sustainable Development (INADED).

Key Issues

The key issues included in the New Manifesto are:

Illegal and corrupt practices and harassment of vendors: illegal demands for taxes; existence of multiple tax authorities such as hygiene inspectorate, police, customs, fire services, environmental authorities; the harassment of immigration officials and frontier police; illegal confiscation of goods; sale of false documents which are not recognised by the State.

Fixing a regular price for taxes;reduce the number of taxes; regular payment of civil servants and police forces; implementation of fiscal laws; regular supply of electricity; ensure safety and security in markets; determine which authority is competent to collect which taxes; determine the respective role of the migration police, the municipal police and hygiene inspection services; set up a committee to follow-up on demands;

The Manifesto also includes a list of other recommendations to improve the working lives of market and street vendors. The LFDC will continue to lobby the authorities to set up adialogue committee with them.

Tuesday, 13 March 2012

StreetNet's two affiliates in Niger, UGSEIN and FENASEIN have completed the first phase of the New Manifesto campaign. After surveying 8 markets, they held a workshop to compile the results of the survey and to draw up the New Manifesto. The main issues related to on-going harassment by the municipal police and other authorities and the need for the regularisation of trading places on the street.

The participants at the conference heard with interest about the report entitled “Pay Gap between men and women unchanged” and the plans for the ILO conference in 2012 to discuss the possibility of establishing an international standard in the form of a Recommendation on a universal social protection floor.

The participants recognised that social security is a human right, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, in West and Central Africa, it is still far from being a reality. Both formal and informal economy workers lack social security, including access to basic services, and are vulnerable in sickness, accidents and old age. Informal economy workers face these difficulties most acutely. Child labour is largely found in the informal economy and rural areas and is a consequence of poverty and income insecurity.

The universal social protection floor refers to a minimum set of protections for all persons at different stages of their life cycle. It will particularly support the poorest and most vulnerable, the great majority of whom are women in the informal economy.

ØGuaranteed income security for all children through a system of family and child benefits;

ØSocial assistance for the unemployed or working poor and the disabled;

ØA system of basic pensions for people in old age;

Discussion at the commemoration

While recognising differences in approach from one country to another, and the different levels of commitment to social security protection on the part of the respective governments, the participants agreed to:

ØSupport initiatives to discuss how to improve and extend social security protection in their respective countries, with particular attention to the needs of women in the informal economy;

ØDistribute this declaration to their respective membership ;

ØSend this declaration to the trade union centres in their respective countries, requesting that they support the proposed recommendation on the universal social protection floor at the forthcoming ILO conference; and that they take into account the needs of women in the informal economy in their proposals to the conference;

ØRequest the trade union centres to include women from representative organizations of informal economy workers in their delegations to the 2012 ILO conference.

Friday, 2 March 2012

The StreetNet affiliate in Kenya, the Kenyan National Alliance of Informal Traders, held a leadership training workshop for its disabled members on March 1-2nd. It was the first time that such a meeting was held and was much appreciated by all participants. Disabled people and albinos face considerable discrimination in Kenya. KENASVIT is one of the few organisations which is actively organising disabled workers, encouraging them to take up leadership positions in their organisation and including their demands in negotiations with the municipalities.

KENASVIT is about to start a survey of its members in 7 municipalities in order to collect their demands for a New Manifesto. Disabled workers will be one of the issues included in the survey.